The decision by Mayor Brandon Johnson to remove gunfire detection technology from Chicago streets led to delayed emergency responses for three more shooting victims on Sunday night and Monday morning. No one called 911 to report the gunfire in either case, leaving one victim to flag down a passing patrol car for help while another waited more than eight minutes for the police to find her.

Johnson ended the city’s relationship with ShotSpotter in September 2024 despite opposition from a supermajority of the City Council and the desires of CPD Supt. Larry Snelling. Since then, at least 71 shooting victims have experienced longer waits than necessary for first responders to locate them. About half of those victims have died.

Two of the most recent victims were shot around 8:21 p.m. Sunday in the 5000 block of South Washington Park Court in Bronzeville. Although no one called 911 to report the gunfire, officers on patrol said they heard shots in the general area.

At 8:24 p.m., 911 operators received the first report of a person shot: An 18-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the left thigh had arrived on his own at nearby Provident Hospital. CPD said he was in good condition.

About five minutes later, at 8:29 p.m., officers found a second victim in the 5000 block of South Washington Park Court. An 18-year-old woman had been shot in the abdomen and was taken to the University of Chicago Hospital in serious condition, police said.

Officers located eight shell casings a few steps from where the injured woman was found, suggesting that a ShotSpotter alert could have directed police immediately to her location had the system still been active.

In a separate case, a 17-year-old boy flagged down a CPD patrol car after he was shot in the 7800 block of South Jeffrey Boulevard around 2:44 a.m., according to police.

The boy told officers he heard gunshots and realized he had been struck in the arm and hand. He estimated the shooting occurred five or ten minutes before he encountered the police vehicle. Records show the city received no calls reporting shots fired in the area.

Officers applied a tourniquet to slow the boy’s blood loss until EMS transported him to the University of Chicago Hospital in fair condition.

Ald. Michelle Harris (8th), who represents the block where the boy was shot, typically aligned herself with Johnson’s policies, but she broke ranks over the ShotSpotter issue.

“Recently, I had a shooting in my ward. The police were there within minutes because of ShotSpotter,” Harris told reporters shortly before Johnson ended the program, noting that no one called 911 in that case either. “All my police commanders support it.”

Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) represents the neighborhood where the man and woman were shot Sunday night. She questioned ShotSpotter’s effectiveness during contract renewal discussions in April 2024.

“I live in a ward which has benefited, but also ShotSpotter has been problematic,” Taylor said, according to Block Club Chicago. “If anybody knows where my office is, it’s right off the expressway, and I can count the number of times on my hands and feet that the police have showed up and it’s been the backfire from the expressway. And so if we’re going to spend money on something, let it be something that actually works, or something that we can collect clear data on.”

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When the City Council later voted on a measure that would have given Snelling the authority to enter into a new ShotSpotter contract without Johnson’s involvement, Taylor did not show up to vote. She later told reporters she would have supported the measure had she been present. Her vote would have been the 34th in favor, the exact number needed to override a mayoral veto. Instead, the measure passed with only 33 votes.

Brandon’s Bodies

As of 12:01 a.m. on September 23, 2024, Chicago ended its use of ShotSpotter, a gunfire detection system that had been deployed in 12 of the city’s most violence-impacted neighborhoods. The technology identified suspected gunfire locations down to specific addresses and even pinpointed spots like alleys, sidewalks, or the side of a house.

Mayor Brandon Johnson refused to reverse his decision to dismantle the system, despite calls to preserve it from a majority of aldermen, numerous residents, victims’ advocates, and his own appointed police superintendent.

On this page, CWBChicago tracks cases where people have been found shot in areas that were previously covered by ShotSpotter without timely accompanying 911 calls. These cases often involve victims discovered with no corresponding 911 calls or calls that gave vague or incorrect information about where shots were fired.

Editor’s note: Case #13 was removed from this list on May 21, 2025, after the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the individual died by suicide in a fall from height.